The Road Not Taken

My life could be very different right now. I could be living in Austin, Texas.

Back in the mid-‘90s, I had a love affair with Austin. I visited a few times, stayed with friends, rode my bike along the urban Barton Creek Green Belt, traipsed the city, ate at loads of veggie-friendly restaurants, and decided that I’d like to move to this warm climate city (warm climate was a prerequisite).

I went back out there, found an apartment, put down a deposit, and came back to the east coast to pack.

I chickened out and ended up staying on the east coast. Why am I such a big loser? I had no job prospectives in Austin, and rent in Austin (thanks to their ‘90s dot-com boom) was 3-4 times what I was paying back home (I had ridiculously cheap rent).

It’s been about ten years since I’ve been to Austin, but I went last week – ‘cause it really is a great city!

My favorite restaurant from my previous visits is Thai Noodle House, which is tucked behind a 7-11 on the main drag near the University of Texas campus. I went back to see if I could find the dish I loved so much – a cold noodle dish with a tangy sauce. Ten years is a long time to hold on to the memory of a dish you’ve only eaten five or six times, and the dish I chose didn’t seem to match my memory. Oh well. Maybe it’s not me. Apparently the shop has switched owners, and not everyone is happy about it. Our meal was good.

I’ve had Indian in Austin, but never at The Clay Pit. This place has to be the largest Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to. And the busiest. We went on a Thursday night during UT winter break, and it was packed. The food is dubbed contemporary Indian, since it incorporates non-traditional ingredients like salmon and mussels. The Northern Indian food at the Clay Pit is solid.

El Soy y La Luna is a funky Tex-Mex joint in the artsy, indie SoCo area. The menu is extensive, and they even serve breakfast all day. I went with the black bean taco and the soy chorizo taco from the a la carte menu. One thing I love and remember from previous visits to Austin is the abundance of soy chorizo at restaurants. Austin is very veggie-friendly!

I’ve been on a “where’s a veggie hot dog” quest for many years, and the quest is surprisingly difficult. So far in my travels, the Midwest is a veggie hot dog hot spot. Dog Almighty in South Austin serves beef, turkey, and veggie hot dogs with a long list of toppings. Anything on the menu can be made vegetarian. (Did I mention that Austin is veggie-friendly?) I had The Classic with chili, onions, cheese, and mustard, and The Pflueger Dog with kraut, onions, and mustard. The dogs and buns were grilled to perfection. Almighty Dog made my day. Will someone in Philly take this idea and make it happen?

I’m back in Wilmington/Philly now. Back to my life that actually happened. Austin is great, but I’ve got a Philly love affair going on now – despite that it's cold as fuck here.

Tengo Gusto de Paletas

I’m not done with Texas. We're going back.

Disappointed that there was no tribute to Billie Jean in Corpus Christi, the city redeemed itself with La Paletera, a chain originating in Corpus that specializes in Mexican street foods. La Paletera’s specialty is paletas (Mexican frozen fruit pops) along with fresh fruit cups spiced with chili powder, salt, and lime.

For being such a good girl (not one tantrum where I kicked my shoes off or screamed at the top of my lungs), my partner took me out for paletas. At first, I was like, “What is this? Like FrozFruit or something?” I was told paletas are better. Yeah, right!

I hate it when I’m wrong. I’d take a paleta any day over FrozFruit.

Freeze your brain with sugar free, water-based, or cream-based popsicles in familiar flavors like mango, strawberry, lime, cantaloupe, and banana; or Mexican flavors like rice, chamoy, mango with chili, tamarindo, fresas con crème, or leche quemada.

I went with a cream-based mango paleta, and it was soooo good. My partner, who eats these things when in Texas (the chain is only in Texas at the moment) and when visiting family in Mexico, went with the strawberry and banana because I couldn’t decide between mango and strawberry and banana. His/mine had visible hunks of fruit.

Another specialty of La Paletera is their banana pudding. I’m not sure if that’s really Mexican street food, but, come on, who doesn’t like banana pudding? It’s one of my favorite desserts. While I was mowwing down my large cup of banana pudding (after the popsicle – ice cream melts, ya know), a man walked out to his car with the largest bowl of banana pudding I’ve ever seen – you could have stashed an infant in the bowl. I did a double take of the menu. For $40 you can get a large bowl of banana pudding. I love La Paletera. I’m thinking of moving to Texas.

So, here’s the question*…without doing any recognizance work of my own (summer is almost over, and it takes forever to get to some things on my food list), where can I get paletas in Philly. I’m thinking somewhere in the multicultural Italian Market?* Well, hot damn! While this post sat in my computer, I was served up some paletas at a catered picnic from La Michoacana, a Mexican ice cream shop in Kennett Square, PA. (I've been there for ice cream, but must have dismissed the paletas.) I had a corn flavored paleta (more cinnamony than corny) and a coffee flavored paleta. The question still stands for Philly, though.

Kitchen Tips From a 93-Year-Old

Once again, I tacked a not-really-a-vacation weekend onto the long list of such weekends this summer when I accompanied my boyfriend to Corpus Christi, Texas to visit his 93-year-old grandfather. I’ve never been to Corpus Christi, but have always had a soft spot in my heart for this seaside town ever since watching The Legend of Billie Jean – the raddest 80’s teenage rebellion and girl empowerment movie set in and filmed in Corpus Christi – over and over and over again in the 80's with the assistance of HBO (down in Fraggle Rock...).

I was excited to finally visit Corpus Christi, but Corpus should have stayed immortalized in my little brain as the place where Billie Jean proclaims ,“Fair is fair!,” and rebel justice prevails in the end, as the town is not nearly as exciting in reality. Sadly, there is no statue for Billie Jean in Corpus. But there is one for Salena.

But I was not in Corpus to sightsee; I was there to visit with the gramps, after all. The dear man is 93, undergoing chemo, lives alone, cooks for himself, and can talk Joan Rivers under a table. I don’t know how he does it. He nearly wore me out. While there, he taught me a few lessons in the kitchen that, even though I've heard them before (and ignore them), maybe I should wissen up and do as I'm told.

Zeyde’s Kitchen Tips

• Organize your kitchen for most efficient use. The man can stand in one corner and reach most things he uses on a daily basis without taking a step. (That’s the corner in the photo)

• Use a real measuring utensil. The teaspoon in the silverware drawer is not for measuring.

• One knife cannot do everything. Some cut bread well, some spread butter well, and some cut tomatoes well. Use the appropriate knife.

• Clean up as you cook, and there will be minimal mess when you’re done.
  

• Have a food schedule. For example; eat oatmeal two days, dry cereal four days, and eggs one day during the week for breakfast. Schedules make decisions easy and assure you eat the required food you need.

• Last, but not least, when you’re 93, you can be as stubborn and set in your ways as you like, and you’re always right!(There’s something to look forward to.)

While milling around his kitchen, I stumbled upon some vintage cooking items in the cupboards. There’s always a few jars in the spice rack you have no clue when you purchased, so they stay. We're all guilty of this. But, if you can remain guilty for a few decades, you might have some eBay material. These goodies were so charming, I had to take photos.

The cocoa and sugar mixture in the small glass bottle with the for-real retro cartoon is for decorating tops of cookies. I don’t think we could get away with the word “midget” to describe these small paper cupcake liners nowadays. I don’t think you could pick up cupcake liners for the faded nineteen cents printed on the yellowing sticker, either .

This paper wrapper held the most beautiful match boxes – each covered with a different illustration. Amazingly, these matches have been floating around the kitchen longer than I’ve been on this earth!